


A quantum of innocence

by baalsdungeon



Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: Ryuu being a bby, a bit OOC, poor cat, traumatized judar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:41:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27531664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baalsdungeon/pseuds/baalsdungeon
Summary: Hakuryuu and Judar both find a cat sleeping in the garden, and the magi decides he will make it his friend. Seems even that isn't so easy for him, as it is with humans.
Relationships: Judal | Judar/Ren Hakuryuu
Comments: 5
Kudos: 15





	A quantum of innocence

Hakuyuu had quite the trouble keeping up with his younger brother, who excitedly hurried towards the garden entrance, a tight grip on his sleeve. "Hakuryuu, please slow down. What do you wanna show me?" he asked, looking around. The other had simply exclaimed he found something interesting and wanted to show it. Now, Hakuyuu didn't exactly have time for such things at the moment...

"You'll see!" Hakuryuu chirped, pointing at a large tree. "There's a cat! Her belly is huge, can I keep her?!" 

"No, she probably belongs to someone. And she needs rest if she is pregnant." _Of course_ he would want to keep it. But Hakuryuu wasn't ready for such a big responsibility yet. 

"Alright...but I wanna show you!" 

Hakuryuu continued walking up to the spot where he found the cat but found the magi, Judar, holding it in a tight grip, and she struggled to get free by hissing loudly.

"Hey!! What are you doi-"

"High priest, please put her down. You upset her," Hakuyuu said, holding his brother back. 

Judar let go and stomped his foot angrily, pointing at the cat who was lying on the ground again. "I don't! See, it's purring!"

"Cats purr when they're distressed too. To calm down. Please let her sleep." Hakuyuus voice was soft, but Judar was pretty upset despite the logical explanation. 

"Fine! I don't care for that stupid, ugly thing anyway!" The magi stomped away, and Hakuryuu immediately followed, freeing himself from his brother's grip on his shoulder.

The prince found Judar under a tree, staring into nothing in particular. If it was Hakuryuu, he would probably be crying, so he half-expected Judar to do the same. Instead, the other didn't have any emotion on his face. Maybe he was just grumpy because the strange men at the palace spoiled him so much, but cats cant make a difference between royalty and other people. They can only react to affection that's given to them. Hakuryuu knew that much, his mother was always there to comfort him, and he liked that. 

"You know, you should apologize."

"To who? I don't care if I was mean to your brother!"

"I mean the cat. You can't force her to do what you want! Be nice to her, and she'll like you."

"I tried to be nice! They all still hate me..."

Hakuryuu wondered what he was talking about. Sometimes, Judar was behaving strangely, as if his mind slipped up for a short time. "Come with me. I'll show you."

He waited a bit, watching Judar struggle to make up his mind. In the end, however, they were both walking back to the spot, the cat now asleep. Hakuryuu kneeled down, careful not to make his clothes dirty, making a gesture for Judar to keep quiet.

Then he took Judar's hand, placing it on the cats back gently. This woke her up, but she didn't run away. 

Hakuryuu smiled, carefully running his fingers along the cat's back. "Now you. See, like that." 

Judar stared in amazement, repeating what the prince did. It was so silly, he had never really pat an animal before. As he scratched its head, the cat now leaned towards Judars hand, softly purring.

"She likes you," Hakuryuu explained, watching. "Look how big her belly is. She will get babies soon. That's what my brother said."

Judar blinked. "She likes me," he repeated carefully, then smiled. "Yeah, she does! How about we keep the babies, one for you and one for me!"

"Well, I don't know-"

"High Priest, there you are!" One of the masked men came to pick Judar up. "You shouldn't waste your time with things like that! Did you forget your lesson for today?!"

"I don't wanna go, it's boring! I wanna stay with Hakuryuu!" Judar was always followed by these people, and Hakuryuu didn't like them. His mother said they're good for the country, but all they did was watch the magi all day and ordering him around.

Gyokuen was also there, reaching a hand towards them, smiling gently. "Judar, come here. Did you find a new friend?"

At least she was happy about it, Hakuryuu thought. Maybe she would allow if they kept the kittens, and if there's more than two he would give one to Hakuei as well! 

Judar stood up, walking towards his mother. "I did! She likes me!" 

"That's great! But you still need to remember to practice, alright?" Gyokuens voice was sweet as always, and she nodded towards Hakuryuu. "Good job for taking care of him. How about you play some more?"

As Judar was taken away, Hakuryuu didn't know where, Gyokuen walked towards one of the men, unnoticed by the children. 

"Get rid of that thing, I don't want it around."

....

A few days had passed, and Hakuryuu ran for his new favorite spot, a few pieces of fresh meat in hand. His brothers weren't happy at first, but they let him feed the cat now. They seemed to be busier and busier each day, but told him everything was fine. 

But then Judar was-

Hakuryuu stood a few meters away, watching as the magi was holding the cat in his arms again, wanting to protest as he noticed how tight his grip was. But the cat didn't move this time. 

Judar buried his face into its fur, his back arching slightly. He was- crying.

"Is she sick?" the prince asked, stepping closer. Maybe they had fed her something bad...

Judar shook his head, and started to sob slightly. "she likes you, she likes you-" he chanted, gripping the cat's body even tighter.

_You are now my enemy too_

"No, but she still- she purred because-"

"Judar?" 

Hakuryuu's voice jolted the magi out of his thoughts, and he felt a hand rub his shoulder. "D-don't be sad. I like you too."

Judar saw that the prince was also crying, rubbing over the cat's big belly. The babies are also- 

Just like everyone in that country, they were gone. It was his fault, and Hakuryuu would also disappear. Judar let go now, both of them holding the dead body, silently crying. He thought about how Hakuryuu wouldn't talk to him at first, but now they were both so sad, almost like they weren't different at all.

"Promise not to die and ill make you king," Judar said, leaning his forehead to Hakuryuu's.

My brother will be emperor," Hakuryuu answered. "But I won't die, mother said nobody would harm our family! There's so many people protecting us."

Judar looked unsure, rubbing his face free from the tears. "If you go, I will be alone. You're my only friend," he stated, patting a space next to him. "We should put her here." 

After they had buried the still-unnamed cat, Hakuryuu came to visit each day. His mother comforted him as he told her, but he didn't mention how sad Judar was as well. Maybe it would worry her that their magi spoke about such serious things, and he didn't want that.

And then, soon after, his father died. 

...

Despite everything, Hakuryuu survived. He didn't smile so much anymore, he avoided Judar, and he focused his attention on his lessons rather than following his family around. 

Judar hated how people gossiped about him, how they looked at him like they wished he would completely vanish. Or maybe they just thought why /he/ had survived instead of the other two princes. None of it mattered to Judar, since Hakuryuu had kept his promise. 

He approached the young prince with a broad smile whenever he could, trying to distract him from the people who would turn their backs from him, talking about how they would be king and magi someday.

But things had changed. Hakuryuu hated him now. Just like Serendine, just like Sinbad, just because he was part of _them_.

And because of that, Judar once again found himself to be completely alone. 

He missed the soft fur of the cat who didn't judge him, and who liked him. But maybe it was better to be feared than to be liked. It's way easier, Judar would certainly try it someday.

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't describe the cat further as it is meant as a symbol for Judar's last attempt of being a "good person" and trying to get people to like him rather than not caring about others, even though it's shown in the manga that he still feels lonely (when eating alone etc.) and thus seeking attention by wrecking havok or playing pranks instead of actively trying to gain friends.
> 
> The story is meant to highlight the fact that Gyokuen really just uses Judar for his powers, not caring about his well-being but pretending to be a mother to him, and thus hurting him more by the reveal that she betrayed him and took his childhood (and possible different future).
> 
> I also wanted Hakuyuu to mention Hakuryuu isn't ready to take care of a cat, but later gives him the responsibility to fulfill the mission of freeing Kou from Al Thamen, as a bit of meaning he didn't want to burden his brother at first, but was forced to in the end. 
> 
> I feel like what I wanna say in my fics is so badly written, but lastly, I wanted to show that Gyokuen doesn't care about Hakuryuu or his fate, as she sends him to "play somewhere", not interested in what he does at all.


End file.
